Chicken Pot Surprise

We had this dish a few nights ago and it was surprisingly good! It was even better the second night.

It came about pretty much by accident and in stages of mistakes and misfortunes: 1. I didn't load the slow cooker in time; 2. I didn't know how many people I was going to end up feeding; and 3. I didn't have many groceries in the house.

It was basically an experiment or really just a fluke. I put some chicken in the slow cooker with the intention of putting a few potatoes in with it and steaming some veggies when it was time to eat. But I didn't start the chicken in time and then I realized that my nieces were most likely going to eat supper with us. I dumped the chicken in a stock pot, peeled more potatoes, and grabbed some frozen peas and beans to throw in there, and turned that fire up!

It's easy because it cooks all in one pot, as it turns out.

Chicken Pot Surprise

6-8 chicken legs or thighs
Several potatoes
Medium onion
1 cup frozen field peas with snaps
1 lb. frozen speckled butter beans
Salt and pepper to taste

Put the chicken, onion (cut up), and salt and pepper in a large pot and cover with water. Cover and boil. While the chicken is cooking, peel several potatoes and cut them up in chunks. When the chicken gets about halfway done, put in the potatoes, peas, and beans. You will probably need to add a bit more water.

When everything gets done, it's ready to serve a couple of different ways. Either serve the chicken intact with the potatoes and peas on the side or tear the chicken up and mix it up with the potatoes and peas. I served the chicken intact.

This looked pretty good in the bowl actually, rather like good comfort food! I liked the way the peas and beans looked with the potato chunks for some reason. My husband actually liked it and said so. My girls ate the chicken and picked over the rest. My nieces ended up not eating with us that first night.

We ate all the chicken the first night but had a good bit of potatoes and peas left. I browned a half a pound of ground turkey and put it in the pot and warmed it all up. It tasted better that night, and the kids ate it better. My nieces loved it and ate three servings each.

I pondered over what to call it and ended up deciding on "Chicken Pot Surprise" since I was just adding stuff as I went, and because you can make it so many different ways.